yetanothermagazine filmtvmusic

feb2009 oscar, bafta & sag, oh my! award season is over with indie spirits, sags, baftas and oscars handed out. this season’s films that should have been “best picture” in this yam we review // benjamin button, slumdog millionaire, frost/nixon, milk, the reader, lee-hom wang, franz ferdinand, united states of tara and more // too weird for words

our thoughts on coraline and other horrorific fantasy films// film We are trying to focus on certain Now, hopefully you will enjoy the best picture nominees - the curious case of benjamin button pg2 things, but we always – mostly I – newest issue with us commenting - frost/nixon pg3 end up with our thoughts elsewhere, on some “horrorific” films, in honor - milk pg4 - the reader pg5 so I would appreciate a little of the newest stop-motion animated - slumdog millionaire pg6 feedback... a little push by telling me film, Coraline. the should have been best picture pg7 what to include and what to avoid. award season breakdown pg11 Thank you to those who emailed coraline & other horrorific films pg12 me or messaged me with feedback, amywong // music here’s my address: lee-hom wang - xin tiao pg15 [email protected] p.s.: nate, you suck. xD franz ferdinand - tonight: franz ferdinand pg15 big bang - number 1 pg16 duncan sheik - whisper house pg17 Write anything you want. - la luz del ritmo pg17 melinda doolittle - coming back to you pg17 grammy winners pg18 Moreover, thank you to those who tv contributed on this new issue. You united states of tara season 1 pg20 rock. battlestar galactica season 4 pg21 books buffy the slayer season 8 pg22

Second issue of yam, another editor’s note! The first issue went better than we expected, I think we started off on the right foot, but we are still trying to work things out. from the editor // index // best picture nominees

the curious case frost/nixon of benjamin Directed by: Ron Howard Starring: Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Sam Rockwell, button Kevin Bacon, Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall Written for the stage and adapted by Peter Morgan, Frost/ Directed by: David Fincher Nixon retells the story of a series of post-Watergate Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson interviews between talk-show host David Frost and Richard Nixon. Benjamin Button is loosely based on the 1921 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald of a man experiencing life backwards by The fact that Ron Howard decided to make a new movie being born as an old man and growing younger in time. doesn’t mean that Frost/Nixon should be regarded as an instant masterpiece. Sure the film has great acting, and The film it’s exquisitely shot, but terribly long so make sure somewhat an interesting story. Every Howard films does, you have a permanent marker with you to draw a new which leaves us watching this thinking “okay... so what?”. crack on your backside. Despite that, Button was very enjoyable with its situations, characters, and performances. Nominations: Best Actor, Directing, Film Editing, Adapted If it should win any awards, it should get Best Makeup, Screenplay Best Cinematography and Visual Effects because it did an incredible job to enhance the film and avoided showing off by doing it. ¼ Nominations: Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, Directing, Film Editing, Makeup, Original Score, Sound Mixing, Visual Effects, Adapted Screenplay  pg3 the reader Directed by: Stephen Daldry Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Kate Winslet, David Kross

Based on the book by Bernhard Schlink, The Reader explores the life of a law student who re-encounters with his former lover, an older woman defending herself against war- crime charges nearly a decade after WWII.

Daldry re-appears after The Hours with this film that is often mistaken as a holocaust film. The Reader is more of an exploration of characters, the drama in their lives and their secrets. It never shows scenes of the war, so it’s not just a holocaust film.

Dauldry actually paints an interesting picture by never telling you what to feel for the characters, whether you should feel sorry for Winslet’s character or hate her for working under Nazi rules.

milk Nominations: Best Actress, Cinematography, Directing, Adapted Screenplay Directed by: Gus Van Sant Starring: Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, James Franco, Emile ½ Hirsch, Diego Luna  

Milk tells the story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California, who was assassinated alongside Mayor George Moscone by Supervisor Dan White from San Francisco.

Van Sant has given better films, but still Milk doesn’t disappoint with a fantastic cast and a message. To tell you the truth, I never felt that this was a film about gay rights, but a film about politics, the people, and their struggles... Harvey Milk just happened to be gay. The end of the film is really powerful, and will most likely stick with you days after watching the film.

Nominations: Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Costume Design, Directing, Film Editing, Original Score, Original Screenplay pg4  the should have been best picture When the Academy Awards decided to unveil their nominations last month, many cried foul play. Many wanted slumdog The Dark Knight among the Best Picture nominees, despite the lack of nominations in award shows like the Golden millionaire Globes, BAFTAs, and even the SAG. Directed by: Danny Boyle Here are some of the films, that we thought should have Starring: Dev Patel, Anil Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla, Freida been included as Best Picture nominees. Pinto The only rule was naming an alternate film instead of one of Adapted from the novel by Vikas Swarup, Slumdog tells the the nominees. story of a Mumbai teen who becomes a contestant on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and ends up arrested under suspicion of cheating.

The film gets you into it as the protagonist tells his story in the form of flashbacks, motion blurs and some quick cuts. We can thank Boyle and his collaboration with Anthony Dod Matle, who also worked together on the 2004 film Millions. Add to that a fantastic screenplay by Simon Beaufoy, a doubt fantastic adult and young cast, and you got yourself a feel- good film that will get you to scream “pick up the phone!!” at Directed by: John Patrick the screen. Shanley Starring: Meryl Streep, Philip Nominations: Cinematography, Directing, Film Editing, Seymour Hoffman, Amy Original Score, 2 Original Songs, Sound Mixing, Sound Adams, Viola Davis Editing, Adapted Screenplay Written, adapted and taken to the screen by John Patrick ¼ Shanley, Doubt tells the story of a nun confronting a priest who is suspected of taking advantage of two of his students.

The film is not only taken to a different level by the way the play translated onto the screen, but has incredible acting by everyone in the cast. It earned four nods for acting (one Lead Actress, one Supporting Actor, and two Supporting Actress), and another nod for Best Adapted Screenplay, so why not a nod for Best Picture already? - amy Instead of: The Reader pg7 the should revolutionary road Directed by: Sam Mendes have been Starring: Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Shannon, Kathy Bates best picture Based on the novel by Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road follows Frank and April Wheeler in the seventh year of their marriage, a couple that seems the epitome of the 1950’s perfect American couple. They live in the suburbs with their two children, Frank commutes to New York to work at an office job, while April is an all-around housewife. But they’re not happy.

Woefully this film was not recognized by any of the major award entities. This adaptation of Yates’ novel is not a film one can sit through easily -- it is, like Mike Nichols’ “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” a devastating portrait of two souls entrapped by an unhappy marriage, longing to get out but never being able to do so and taking it out on each other. DiCaprio gives what is probably his best performance and Winslet is, as always, a marvel to behold. The film stays with you long after see it. It’s a great accomplishment that the wrestler should have been recognized. - Dorothy Porker Directed by: Darren Aronofsky Instead of: Slumdog Millionaire Starring: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood

The Wrestler is centered on the life of a retiring professional wrestler trying to balance his love for wrestling, a paying the dark knight job, a blossoming romance, and the relationship with his Directed by: Christopher Nolan stranded daughter. Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan While nearly everyone praises Mickey Rourke for his Freeman, Cillian Murphy interpretation of Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson, I also think that the rest of the actors and wrestlers involved in the film The Dark Knight starts off with Batman seeking the help worked well enough to make it great. of Lieutenant Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, as they set out to eliminate organized crime that Doing a film about a professional wrestler past his prime is plagues Gotham. When it proves to be effective, a criminal very hard to pull, but Aronofsky (who should have gotten a mastermind known as The Joker decides to unleash chaos. nod for Best Director) managed to pull it off very well and even got people that despise pro-wrestling (the WWE style) Christopher Nolan virtually reinvents and invigorates the into praising this film very highly. - my85 superhero genre with this dark, gritty take on the Caped Crusader. The film features a complex story that questions Instead of: Frost/Nixon just how far our heroes should go to protect us from evil. And evil in this film is manifested in the form of Heath Ledger, in a performance that is more of a possession than mere acting. - Dorothy Porker Instead of: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button pg9 Vicky CristinaBarcelona The DarkKnight WALL-E The Wrestler Slumdog Millionaire my85’s r Slumdog Millionaire Waltz withBashir The DarkKnight WALL-E Kung FuPanda Milk raul’s r  tings  tings ½ ¼ ¼ ¼ ½       Revolutionary Road Revolutionary Doubt The Wrestler The Visitor Slumdog Millionaire The Reader Frost/Nixon The DarkKnight WALL-E Kung FuPanda Changeling The CuriousCaseofBenjaminButton Milk amy’s r Seven Pounds The DarkKnight WALL-E Kung FuPanda Bolt Changeling The CuriousCaseofBenjaminButton Milk maca’s r   tings tings ½  ¾  ½ ½  ½  ½ ½ ½    ½    ½  Hounddog The LuckyOnes Rachel GettingMarried (GouGou theCat) Neko de GU~GU Datte Aru Gran Torino The Guitar (One Million Yen Girl) toNigamushiOnna Hyakuman-en myRomance) (Don’t Laughat Hito noSEKKUSUwo Warauna Wendy andLucy Religulous Man on Wire (I’ve Loved You SoLong) Il yaLongtempsqueJet’Aime Happy-Go-Lucky Gomorrah Waltz withBashir Vicky CristinaBarcelona Frozen River   ¾  ¼ ½   ¼ ½ ¾ ½ ½     pg10 Supporting Actor BAFTA (1) Picture Outstanding Performance byaStuntEnsemble inaMotion Role Outstanding Performanceby a MaleActorinSupporting SCREEN ACTORSGUILD(2) Best PerformancebyanActor inaSupportingRole GOLDEN GLOBES(1) Best ActionMovie Best SupportingActor CRITICS CHOICE(2) slumdog millionaire Music Editing Sound Cinematography Adapted Screenplay Director Best Film BAFTA (7) Best AdaptedScreenplay WRITERS GUILD(1) Outstanding AchievementinFeature Film DIRECTORS GUILD(1) Motion Picture Producer oftheYear Award PRODUCERS GUILD(1) Outstanding PerformancebyaCast SCREEN ACTORSGUILD(1) Best OriginalScore Best Screenplay Best Director Best MotionPicture -Drama GOLDEN GLOBES(4) Best Composer Best Young Actor Best Writer Best Director Best Picture CRITICS CHOICE(5) the darkknight Leading Actress BAFTA (1) Role Outstanding PerformancebyaFemaleActorinSupporting SCREEN ACTORSGUILD(1) Best PerformancebyanActress inaSupportingRole GOLDEN GLOBES(1) Best SupportingActress CRITICS CHOICE(1) Leading Actor BAFTA (1) Best OriginalSong Best PerformancebyanActorinaMotionPicture -Drama GOLDEN GLOBES(2) Best Song CRITICS CHOICE(1) Best OriginalScreenplay WRITERS GUILD(1) Stanley KramerAward PRODUCERS GUILD(1) Outstanding PerformancebyaMaleActorinLeadingRole SCREEN ACTORSGUILD(1) Best ActingEnsemble Best Actor CRITICS CHOICE(2) milk the reader the wrestler Outstanding BritishFilm BAFTA (1) Motion Picture Producer oftheYear Award PRODUCERS GUILD(1) Best DocumentaryFeature CRITICS CHOICE(1) Best DocumentaryScreenplay WRITERS GUILD(1) Best Foreign LanguageFilm GOLDEN GLOBES(1) Best Foreign LanguageFilm CRITICS CHOICE(1) man onwire waltz withbashir

breakdown coraline other horrorific films Directed by Henry Selick (The Nightmare& Before Christmas) from the book by Neil Gaiman (MirrorMask), Coraline tells the story about a young girl moving to a new home in an average yet bizarre neighborhood with a noisy-boy-next-door, a creepy Don’t get me wrong, Coraline is a beautiful film to watch, Russian acrobat, circus rats, and creepy old ladies. Not satisfied great art, pretty cool animation and the soundtrack - top- with life with her parents and her new place, Coraline finds a notch!! - but I couldn’t help feeling that the 3D experience secret door that leads her to an alternate version of her life, was a total lackluster. It worked in some scenes, sure, but where her parents are fun, the boy-next-door doesn’t babble and they were so scattered that I could have done without it. “everything seems to be perfect. The film is for kids, but it’s obviously not for those who get easily scared. There are some disturbing scenes, and it’s not really a film of happily-ever-after, so the adults expecting is just another example on the line Faces. Yes, just like in Guillermo del Toro’s 2006 Oscar-winning Pan’s a fairytale ending where kids save the day, parents learn to of great blends between fantasy Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno), a girl living a life she’s not happy appreciate their kid, and they live content forever together Coralineand horror films. They have it all, with discovers an alternate world that isn’t what it really seems to be. until the end – not gonna happen. art direction, music, a bizarre story, unique characters...” they all mix Or Terry Gilliam’s 2005 Tideland, or Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning together and seemingly create a brand new world bordering in real life animated Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi), where a girl Also, I had to see it dubbed, and I hate dubbing with a and an alternate world where everything might be possible. Oh! Don’t wanders into the world of gods, witches and monsters. passion. However, I have to give it props for being the first forget the cult-movie status, and the fanbase! 3D film that actually made me want to watch it at the theater. However, not all follow that formula and they focus more on certain I was expecting more of the 3D experience though... but Director Henry Selick has worked with Tim Burton, whose work on films areas like the amount of bizarre, or the art direction. In fact, all of these that’s just me being picky. - amy like The Corpse’s Bride, and Edward Scissorhands certainly would fit the films tend to be a visual fest with amazing cinematography and great genre of fantasy horrorific films. Other films that are similar in style, and production value. Some of the projects falling in this category are Tarsem ¾ are certainly loved by people keeping an eye on this genre are 1982’s Singh’s 2006 The Fall or Tim Burton’s 2007 Sweeney Todd, about a The Dark Crystal, 1984’s The Neverending Story, and 1986’s Labyrinth. vengeance-thirsty barber that ends up killing people and making pies Many of these films were brought to life thanks to the work of Jim with them while singing. Henson (and his company), who happened to give us The Storyteller miniseries, and also worked on the 2005 Neil Gaiman/Dave McKean Certainly everything doesn’t center on this side of the world, this is why collaboration, MirrorMask. Mamoru Oshii’s Angel’s Egg (Tenshi no Tamago) makes our article, a bizarre 1985 anime film almost devoid of all dialog about a mysterious Yes, people might say most of them are the quintessential Alice in unnamed girl with a large egg living in a post-apocalyptic world. And Mai coming soon Wonderland story, when in fact they would be the quintessential Hero’s Tominaga’s 2006 Wool 100%, often described as fresh and quirky with a March 6th Journey described in Joseph Campbell’s book, A Hero with a Thousand feel of a modern fairytale. Paco and the Magical Book (PAKO to Maho no Ehon) [Normal Edition DVD R2] [Special Edition DVD R2] [Blu-ray]

October Where the Wild Things Are [Theatrical Release]

Next Year Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland pg12 [Theatrical Release] coming soon music

lee-hom wang franz ferdinand in theaters on dvd/blu-ray

February 6th March 4th February - Akira (24th) [Blu-ray] The Kite Runner (24th) Heartbeat (Dec. 31 2008) and plays more with rocking electric guitars, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (Jan. 27 2009) second listen. Possible highlights? Ulysses, - He’s Just Not that Into You - 12 - Changeling (17th) [Blu-ray] - Let the Right One In [Blu-ray] To some people Lee-Hom Wang is taking and a Rock&Roll flare. People not used Franz Ferdinand comes back with their third and Bite Hard. - Coraline [Single-disc Widescreen] [Single-disc Widescreen] the music industry by storm alongside other to Rock&Roll (think Jailhouse Rock) will , which I’ve been anticipating since - El Cielo Gira (The Sky March 6th [Blu-ray] March [Blu-ray] April popular musicians who are creating the new not love this departure, and would wish I got You Could Have It So Much Better After finding the will to listen to this again, Turns) - Watchmen - Religulous - Australia (3rd) Happy-Go-Lucky I.O.U.S.A (7th) music coming out from China, but the fact the return of the old him. Sure, this album signed almost two and a half years ago. the tracks begin to warm up a little... but not th [Single-disc Widescreen] [Single-disc Widescreen] [Single-disc Widescreen] [Single-disc Widescreen] is Heartbeat (or Xin Tiao) is Lee-Hom’s 13 might not be his greatest work, but he might enough to become a favorite anytime soon. February 13th March 13th - The Passion of the Christ [Blu-ray] [Blu-ray] album. When I began listening to him, I had be getting there. Best tracks? Ai De De Ti With a lot of waiting, comes great - Wolfman - Sunshine Cleaning [Blu-ray] - I’ve Loved You So Long Milk a preference for his ballads, but as I grew (Dirty Love), Chun Yu Li Xi Guo De Tai Yang disappointment. ¾ - Gomorra (Gomorrah) - Gandhi [Single-disc Widescreen] [Single-disc Widescreen] more accustomed to his sound, I began (The Sun Washed by Spring Rain), and Wo - Two Lovers [Blu-ray] [Blu-ray] [Blu-ray] loving his Chinked-Out style more. Wan Quan Mei You Ren He Li You Li Ni (No It’s not like the album sucks, but it’s not an - Kramer Vs. Kramer - Rachel Getting Married Synecdoche New York Reason to Pay Attention to You).¾ excellent album... mainly because it’s not March 1st [Blu-ray] (10th)[Single-disc [Single-disc Widescreen] On Heartbeat, Lee-Hom continues his musically fun nor that interesting, and it - TOKYO! Widescreen] [Blu-ray] departure from R&B and Hip-Hop sounds certainly doesn’t encourage me to give it a pg15 duncan sheik big bang Whisper House (Jan. 27 2009) Number 1 (Oct. 22 2008) The album has the concept. Big Bang’s first Japanese release, Number 1, consist of 12 marnie stern Christopher, an 11-year-old tracks including the group’s first two Japanese mini- boy whose father dies while and songs from their third Korean mini-album. this is it & i am flying an airplane during WWII, and whose mother has a mental breakdown upon I do like and appreciate their sound, a mix between pop it & you are it hearing it, ends up moving and hip-hop, it appeals to many different tastes, their to his Aunt Lily’s. Only thing is range is not limited and that makes their album a very nice that aunty is a bit nutty, and lives in a lighthouse on the New & so is that & England Coast... and there are ghosts who sing. combination of different music styles. Whisper House is an album, but also apparently a 11 of the tracks are in English which as an international he is it & she soundtrack for the soon-to-be-opened musical theater piece listener is an added bonus. The pronunciation is not bad so from the mind of actor Keith Powell (Toofer on 30 Rock). The you actually understand what they are saying.Most of these is it & it is it album also features vocals by Holly Brook, whose voice can priscillaahn be hear in tracks like Better to Be Dead, You’ve Really Gone songs are very much dance club friendly with nice rhythm and Done it Now, or And Now We Sing – a song that has a and beats. The only somewhat ballad is “Haru Haru” a very a good day & that is that Dancer in the Dark vibe. Nonetheless, the album falls a bit fast painful song about lost love. Even though the track is in short off the mark. Korean it follows the flow of the album. ¼ The only negative thing I can say about this album is the fact that all the songs are dance club friendly, after a few listens los melinda all the songs start to sound very similar. - jumi fabulosos doolittle  cadillacs La Luz del Ritmo (Jan. 27 Coming Back to You 2009) (Feb. 3 2009) photo by: mercurialn After a seven-year-hiatus, American Idol alumni, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs Melinda Doolittle, is most are back with La Luz del improved as she releases sue’s albums more albums Ritmo (The Light of Rhythm), her debut album titled which includes five new Lang Lang - Dragon Songs die-hard Cadillacs fans, or Coming Back to You, going alienate many of the per- Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand ¾  tracks, six newly-arranged- back to old school R&B and Show Luo - Trendy Man ½ old-Cadillacs songs, and people that for some strange track-downloaders, and Priscilla Ahn - A Good Day ½   two covers (including The reason haven’t heard the Soul sounds and flare that attract the people who still The Submarines - Honeysuckle Weeks ¾ Johan Soderqvist - Let the Right One In OST out now    Clash’s Should I Stay or original. could remind you of Tina buy records... but that’s just Clint Eastwood - Changeling Soundtrack Turner, a lot of Motown, The - - Feb. 3rd new albums TV on the Radio - Dear Science   Should I Go). me guessing. Highlights: Should I Stay or Should I Go and very little pop, there Fundamental Things, It’s Missy Elliott - Block Party - Feb. 10th Why? - Alopecia A. R. Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire OST (Si Me Quedo o Me Voy, as   Being appreciative of is no doubt that Doolittle’s Your Love, Declaration Thomas Newman - WALL-E Soundtrack the chorus says), however, Lily Allen - It’s not Me, It’s You - Feb. 10th The Veronicas - Hook Me Up ½  ’s musical ventures strength is her voice, which of Love, Dust my Broom, gets an interesting Latin Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs ¾ Alexandre Desplat - The Curious Case of is one thing, fully enjoying she uses quite masterfully in   punkish rock vibe treatment. Walkin’ Bluew. the new arrangements in her songs. Hercules and Love Affair - Benjamin Button Soundtrack  Overall, La Luz del Ritmo is some Cadillacs classics ¾ coming soon Erykah Badu - your average sounding Latin   Hercules and Love Affair ¼ is another. Mal Bicho is music album with a never- Doolittle also covers Faith Beirut - March of The Zapotec and Realpeople Holland - Feb. 17th Jack’s Mannequin - The Glass Passenger ½ New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) ¾ one of those songs, which Hill’s If I’m not in Love,     I listened to growing up missing twist of Cadillacs Johnny Mathis’ The Best of Annie Lennox - The Annie Lennox Collection - Feb. 24th Kelley Polar - Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes  and love to the date. A flare... not bad, but quite Fleet Foxes - Sun Giant song of such brilliance can forgettable this time. Everything, and her rendition U2 - No One on the Horizon - Mar. 3rd I Need You to Hold on While the Sky is Falling ¼  only suffer from the new of the blues standard Dust Watchmen Soundtrack - Mar. 3rd Marnie Stern - This Is It & I Am It & You my Broom. musical arrangements,  Dave Matthews Band - The Best of What’s Around Vol. 1 - Mar. 9th Are It & So Is That & He Is It & She Is It & and will probably only be truly appreciated by some The album will most likely Taylor Hicks - The Distance - Mar. 10th pg16 It Is It & That Is That  Grammy Award winners were announced on February Other winners of the night included John Mayer, the Eagles, the 8th in Los Angeles, crowning Robert Plant and Alison Duffy, Daft Punk, Natalie Cole, Metallica, Bruce Springsteen, grammy Krauss with the Album and Record of the Year awards, two Radiohead and Alicia Keys. of the four General Field categories. They also took home the other three awards they were nominated for in the Pop, The night was long, and it included odd live performances winners! Country and Folk categories. Coldplay took home the award like Stevie Wonder with the boys of Jonas Brothers (who for Song of the Year for Viva la Vida, and two others, while have yet to change voices), or Miley Cyrus (who seems to Adele took home two including the award for Best New smoke a packet a day with that voice) on a duet with Taylor Artist. Swift, plus some more interesting mixes like Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters singing with Paul McCartney – Did it look like McCartney’s face could sing “Love, love me do/I’ve got surgery too/So please, love me do”.

Probably the best of the night, the moment I stopped doing what I was doing and focused on the show was the Sugarland presentation with Adele.

general field nominees Album Of The Year: Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends (Coldplay) Tha Carter III (Lil Wayne) Year Of The Gentleman (Ne-Yo) Raising Sand (Robert Plant & Alison Krauss) In Rainbows (Radiohead)

Record Of The Year: “Chasing Pavements” (Adele) “Viva La Vida” (Coldplay) “Bleeding Love” (Leona Lewis) “Paper Planes” (M.I.A.) “Please Read The Letter” (Robert Plant & Alison Krauss)

Song Of The Year: “American Boy,” (Estelle Featuring Kanye West) “Chasing Pavements,” (Adele) “I’m Yours,” (Jason Mraz) “Love Song,” (Sara Bareilles) “Viva La Vida,” (Coldplay)

Best New Artist: Adele Duffy Jonas Brothers Lady Antebellum Jazmine Sullivan pg19 united states of tara season 1 tv  Tara is a wife, a mother of two, and a mural artist. She also has Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), so sometimes she can be T, a pot-smoking hyper sexual 15-year-old with a thong and chewing gum. Other times, she can be Buck, a heavy drinker and smoker gun-shooter with a loud and profane mouth. Or sometimes she can be Alice, a mouth-washing piano playing Stepford housewife.

Her family, however, they are not far off DID themselves. Characterization is pretty great, and it gives way to both great comedic situations and decent dramatic elements. Toni Collette gives a great performance (my favorite alter is Buck), that may be bordering a little bit on overacting, but still works for me. Diablo Cody’s lingo is everywhere, and sometimes makes me think that I can’t speak English anymore.

Overall, United States of Tara is not perfect, but is an interesting offering (not even through its half of the season), but we’ll have to see where it goes after season 2. - amy

the personal struggle of each character to understand their battlestar galactica place in the world. Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell are superb in their respective characters of William Adama season 4 and Laura Roslin. ½ The show has lost consistency in its portrayal of critical situations throughout the show due to the involvement Battlestar Galactica is yet another example of lack of of numerous directors. The editing has been down right originality in Hollywood these days. A re-imagined series of atrocious in some cases. The solving of these problems could original 1980’s Battlestar Galactica, it is now in its 4th and have made the show much better. final season. Though different from its parent series, it has been able to redefine the sci-fi genre and give us a remarkable The redeeming feature of Battlestar Galactica is its writing show, defined by the intensity of its characters. and portrayal of characters. Ron D. Moore and his writing team have done an excellent job of creating a story both This season promises to hold the answers to most of the complex in its nature and yet so simple and understandable questions posed so far in the series. From the origins of for viewers who just want our worth of frakking good time of pg20 humanity, to the creation of Cylons, this season focuses on television viewing every week. - mob buffy - season 8 - #001-021 by Fantasy, Comedy, Drama books  It’s been nearly six years since the last episode of was broadcast on television, but that doesn’t mean and the Scooby gang haven’t kept busy, not only fighting demons, but also the government. This new medium also provides the chances to explore wacky and what should put your television budget off-balance.

The Long Way Home (001-004) is the first arc of the season, setting up how the world is working after the release of the Slayer power onto every young woman that could have been the Chosen One. There are at least 1800 active Slayers, 500 of whom work with the Scoobies... which now, of course, looks more like an organized Slayers squad than a group of teenagers trying to get by. Ethan Rayne, Amy Madison and Warren Mears (who ended up like a skinless chicken after amy wong//nate wong.notrelated//maca// jumi //raul//my85// pissing off DarkWillow on Season 6) make an impact here.

The second arc begins with the arrival of Faith on No Future for mob// sue //insidethegold.com// You (006-009), in which Faith gets a mysterious assignment from Giles, and finds a rogue Slayer who’s trying to kill Buffy. Upon the reevaluation of her own dark path (with even an appearance from the Mayor), Faith decides to help other slayers who might be lost.

Followed later by Wolves at the Gate (012-015), in which we find new possible relationships, and loss after a group of werewolves that can turn into fog and morph back to normal steal the Scythe. We also get to go to Tokyo, and plenty of to see. After a hard battle with the mighty foggy morphing werewolves, Buffy finds herself traveling to the future in a crossover issue with Whedon’s Fray in Time of Your Life (016-019).

The fifth arc of the series () begun last month with issue #021 Harmonic Divergence, an issue that brought back sunny-Californian-vampire Harmony Kendall back looking for a big break on the world of MTV’s reality television. With special appearances of Andy Dick and CNN’s Silver Fox, Anderson Cooper interviewing none other than Harmony, and posing a very interesting question - “They say they’re our protectors, as fighters in some grand battle against ‘evil,’ but who decides what is evil? And, some are asking who protect us from them?”

What is right and what is wrong has suddenly changed... and now Buffy and the others seem to be the bad guys. pg22 contributors//